Smethwick was orginally an Anglo Saxon settlement,
and a hamlet in the parish of Harborne.
At the time this would have fallen under the county
of Staffordshire. There is however a history of
metalworking dating back to the 16th century.
Records in the Domesday book show the manor of
Lichfield being occupied by the bishops and after
1546 the Paget family.
Until the end of the 19th century Smethwick must have been quite small. A historian describing its history up to this period referred to the "insignificant hamlet" of Smethwick. Even by 1800 the population was of a mere 1000 inhabitants.
Life was about to change. In 1769 James Brindley
brought the canals to Smethwick. Coal from Wednesbury
to Birmingham passed through Smethwick and heavy
traffic made this an important canal route. Smethwick
was rapidly expanding and the arrival of the railways
in 1852 put Smethwick firmly on the map. The presence
of the canal encouraged Boulton and Watt to build
the Soho Foundry on the banks of the canal.
The Soho foundry was just a mile outside Smethwick's boundry but the
significant contribution it made to Smethwick is without dispute.
Steam engines from the Soho Foundry were exported all
over the world. The Birmingham Railway Carriage
and Wagon Company operated from Smethwick and
Chance's made glass for the famous Crystal Palace
exhibition of 1851. Smethwick is well known as
having been a world leader in the production of
brass, guns and brass as well as engines. The
population in Smethwick rose from just over a
thousand people in 1801 to over 50,000 by 1901.
Some important firms that were to make Smethwick famous are Tangyes ( 1862 ), Evered & Co. ( 1866 ), The Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Co. ( 1864 ), Henry Mitchell ( 1866 ), and William Butler ( 1866 ) who later founded Mitchells & Butlers Ltd which became part of the Bass Charington Group.
Smethwick became a County Borough on 1st April 1907, then merged with the Borough of Warley in 1966, finally to come under the new Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council in 1974.
During the manufacturing decline of the 60's and
70's Smethwick suffered badly with closures of
almost all of the main well known names in industry.
Smethwick had to adjust to this change and housing
and new facilities were built to replace the industrial
wasteland that factory closures had left behind.
Smethwick is now part of the Metropolitan Borough
of Sandwell. Parts of Smethwick are still under
development but changes can be seen with the shopping
centre, leisure centres and parks which provide
fishing lakes and recreational activities.
The Sandwell Council Website can be found at http://www.smbc.sandwell.gov.uk/
